Politicians in America have been the target of satire for nearly as long as there has been politicians. Recently, some wondered if the balance of power had shifted too far toward the humorists — as in this examination of how disastrous an appearance on "Late Show With David Letterman" proved to be for George W. Bush. "The episode was instructive not only about how truly dangerous a tête-à-tête with a witty talk-show host can be," the author, Peter Marks, writes, "but also about how much clout television comedy wields in the shaping of political perceptions." Political humor had become so refined and effective that it could essentially recast candidates against their will using a single damning phrase, like "strategery" or "lock box." That is, until Donald Trump came along. He's been such a frequent and consistent target of "Saturday Night Live," for example, that no fewer than six different actors, including Darrell Hammond and Alec Baldwin, have impersonated him. No impression is more spot-on than the one offered by James Austin Johnson, which resurfaced this past weekend, as "S.N.L." returned with new episodes for 2024. But the issue isn't whether the impression is too damaging (it isn't) or even if it's successful (yes) or funny (also yes). Now there's a deeper dynamic at play, argues David Kamp in a guest essay published last weekend. Trump is an unusual candidate in so many ways — 91 pending criminal indictments will do that — and one is the dissonance in the rhetoric around him. Given his presentation and temperament, he's an obvious target for satire, and has been nationally lampooned for going on four decades. (Kamp got his start at the legendary Spy magazine in part out of a desire to poke fun at Trump.) Yet to many, Trump's re-election would pose a very serious threat to the continued existence of American governance, which hardly seems like the setup to a boffo punchline. Trump is both ripe for, yet impervious to, satire — he may be our first post-satire politician. He's definitely not in danger of being defanged by a single withering portrayal. Whether that's a product of siloed audiences (his most ardent supporters likely aren't big "S.N.L." fans) or simply some Trumpian superpower, the question becomes: If you oppose him, can you still joke about him? For Kamp, a longtime humorist, the answer is an urgent no. Read the guest essay:
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Tuesday, January 23, 2024
Opinion Today: To joke or not to joke
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